TEMPLE IN A CHURCH: Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paradise UFO land in the Point.

I have been fascinated by the idea of the Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paradise UFO for a few years now, so when I noticed they were to play The Point in Cardiff it was a must see event. My socks were well and truly blown off.

This wigged out Japanese band have been around since 1996 and seem determined to confuse people on all levels. They have various other incarnations such as Acid Mothers Temple and the Cosmic Inferno and Acid Mothers Temple Soul Collective with band members floating in and out. Since 1996, they have released 40 odd albums of mind blowing psychedelic space rock. I have bought several albums because I was in love with the whole idea of the band but have found it extremely difficult to get into the freaked out free form feedback space jazz that they knock out. At times they rock like a cross between Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles, but to get to the intense bits you have to put up with hours of bizarre psychedelia that sounds like a cross between Syd Barret era Pink Floyd and the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band.

I had to go and see them, partly because I was convinced that to survive as long as they have they must have an amazing live show, and partly because of a morbid curiosity to see if they were really as bad as I thought they might be… a bit like going to see a car crash.

Well, they were pretty f*ckin’ damned awesome. There were one or two bizarre vocal moments but on the whole they rocked big time, taking feedback to places jimmy Hendrix only dreamed of.

When I got home I had to chuck on ‘Pink Lady Lemonade’ to relive the amazing bits where the guitar was thrust into the speakers to get maximum feedback. I sat through the whole hour (yes, they are the sort of band that record hour long instrumental tracks) and it did not quite do it for me. I think that is the whole point, sitting on the sofa worrying about disturbing the neighbours cannot compare to being there when the magic is being done with the volume up to nose bleed level, the lights scarring the back of the eyeball and the smell of skunk wafting through the room. Knowing what the real thing is like now though, I think I will have another go at listening to a CD all the way through.

PS: Big shout to Colin Powerstepper and the Tangled Parrot for putting the gig on, keep on blowing minds dudes!